Warning: This Fic Is Fruity
by Threepwillow
Summary: Kakyoin loves cherries. Polnareff loves Kakyoin. Does that 'tying the knot in the stem' thing really work? [PolxKak, slash, and excessive fruit.]


Polnareff was convinced that Kakyoin's cherry addiction would be the death of _one _of them one of these days – either Polnareff himself from loss of blood via the nose, or Kakyoin, when Polnareff finally gave up and decided to jump him. From his spot in the passenger seat, the Frenchman couldn't see Kakyoin with his latest haul of fruit, but he couldn't decide if that were a good thing or a bad thing, as his imagination was now left to wander as he studied the passing sand dunes a little too intently.

The last time they'd stopped for gas had been in a rowdy marketplace, where cans of fuel and oil were sold in kiosks right alongside stands full of fruit or stacks of clothing and rugs. Jotaro and Iggy had gone in search of gum and cigarettes, and Joseph had insisted he needed a new hat, with Abdul trailing along behind to keep the exuberant Joestar in check. Polnareff was hungry, so he followed Kakyoin along past a booth selling fruits and vegetables. Polnareff reached out for an apple, and Kakyoin gleefully discovered a basket of cherries.

"I didn't think they'd have them all the way out here!" he cried, buying them immediately. "Do you like cherries, Jean-Pierre?"

"Not as much as you do, clearly," he'd joked, but then Kakyoin lifted out a plump cherry with his thumb and forefinger and held it out to him.

"Here, try one. They're so good." He pushed the fruit closer to Polnareff for emphasis. "Go on."

The light shining in Kakyoin's eyes had been too much to resist. Against his better judgment, Polnareff had allowed Kakyoin to slip the cherry into his mouth. The fruit was sweet, yet bitter, but Polnareff couldn't help but think the tips of Kakyoin's fingers impossibly sweeter, as they accidentally made it in alongside the small red fruit. He had to struggle terribly to resist the urge for a more extensive taste.

"Mmmm – 's rerry good," he told Kakyoin, not entirely speaking about the cherry. He bit down onto it, hard, and it squirted, straight out of his mouth and onto Kakyoin's still-outstretched hand.

Then Kakyoin had proceeded to lick the juice away, and Polnareff had nearly died right then and there. Now, sitting in the thick desert heat as they continued driving, he hated himself for calling the image back up in his mind, because he felt himself touching death again. He scowled and let out an aggravated sigh. From the driver's seat, Joseph raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing.

They stopped about an hour later to change drivers and relieve themselves. Kakyoin had been discussing strategies with Jotaro and they were still talking when the truck rolled to a stop.

"Well, obviously it would be a mistake to go just – _riding_ through the city, with – "

"Shotgun!" cried Joseph, returning from his concealed leak-taking spot. Jotaro objected.

"You were just driving, old man," he said, with his omnipresent scowl. "Someone else gets the cab this time."

"You drive then, punk!" Joseph spat.

"I will."

The argument overriding their previous conversation, Kakyoin left Jotaro and went back to the truck. Polnareff followed, anxious for a drink of water from the canteen, and was surprised to find what he did.

"You still have some of those?" he asked, pointing incredulously at Kakyoin's nearly-empty basket of cherries.

Kakyoin laughed lightly. "I've been trying to savor them. Would…would you like one?"

Polnareff, nervous, pointed over-dramatically at himself. "Me? I – I couldn't. They're your favorite."

"No, go on," he said. "I feel like sharing." But Polnareff continued to refuse, so Kakyoin popped one into his own mouth and rolled it around for a moment before chewing and swallowing. Polnareff, catching the subtle movement out of the corner of his eye, found he needed to swallow, too – that his mouth was getting overly dry. He hopped up into the truck bed in search of the water and a little reprieve, but Kakyoin followed him up and sat down on the edge of the tailgate, still enjoying the remains of his fruit.

"Oh!" he said suddenly. "Mr. Joestar was telling me something funny about cherries that Americans do. They say that – " he lifted a cherry, contemplating it cross-eyed from a position inches from his lips – "if you can put a cherry in your mouth, and tie a knot in the stem, with your tongue, you're supposed to be a really good kisser." He rolled it between his fingers, looking at the stem. "He said he was an expert, but I let him try and he had a little difficulty, no doubt because he's older. We should try, you think?" With that, his mouth closed around the cherry, stem and all, and as he began diligently working at it, Polnareff knew – _knew_ – that he was going to die this way.

He took a bigger swig of water than he'd planned on and nearly choked, fighting it back down at the last minute. How could Kakyoin be so oblivious in circumstances like these, he wondered? Was he really that much dumber than he looked?

The next time Polnareff – against better judgment – made eye contact with Kakyoin, the other boy slowly and deliberately drew the cherry out of his mouth. There was a slim and perfect knot tied in the stem, about two thirds of the way down. There was another further up.

Oh. Maybe he was _smarter _than he looked.

Water bottle immediately discarded, Polnareff flung himself bodily at Kakyoin, knocking them both to the floor of the truck bed and planting his lips firmly over Kakyoin's in an effort to prove Joseph's cherry test correct. It appeared to be quite true, which merited further investigation.

"It's about time," said Kakyoin, grinning up at the Frenchman when the preliminary tests were finished.

"Don't be such a tease," Polnareff scolded, lifting the cherry from Kakyoin's hand and dangling it in front of his face.

"It's only teasing," said Kakyoin, "if I don't follow through on it. Right?" Rocking upward slightly, he grabbed the cherry in his teeth and bit down, biting it in half and squirting juice onto the both of them.

They continued cleaning it up, even after Joseph had come back to find them still together, and the truck had begun to roll forward again. Later, with Kakyoin's last cherry, Polnareff managed to tie his own knot. Kakyoin took it from him and tied another, directly overtop of the first. They exchanged small smiles while Joseph made retching noises.

That's when Polnareff knew that he must have _already_ died – for surely, he'd made it to heaven.

((A/N: Written for my best friend rktikfox over at devART! She draws art for me a lot, you should definitely check her out.))


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